Sunflower's Span
by akihiko-senpai
Summary: Once Dirk finally has the chance to break free of his Zephyr Town reputation and travel the world, he happily accepts it. But there's one girl who might just change that last part.


_**Disclaimer**__: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it._

_**Author's Note**__: This is a very late reply to a request made my pohkeemawn. An initial request was made for Will and Chelsea, but I still haven't played Sunshine Islands (I now own it though, so hopefully I'll be able to play it soon and get the main request written) and so I offered to do another request as well and the request made was for Dirk and Lillian. (: I've rewritten this story sooo many times it's absolutely ridiculous haha, and that's probably why it is also so late. Thank you so much pohkeemawn for being so patient about both requests! Don't think I've forgotten about you! :P I hope you enjoy what I've finished. To everyone else, thank you all for taking the time to read this oneshot, I hope you enjoy it, and look forward to new chapters for Daffodil and The City coming up in about two weeks when I finish my finals. c:  
_

* * *

Ivan was always open about his zest for reading. Books littered the house, overfilled their shelves, found themselves lost in nooks and crannies about Zephyr Town only to be returned months later by a townsperson who knew that a book out of the way meant it was Ivan's. And Dirk – well, nobody would have ever assumed that a book lying about was his. Dirk was more likely to be slipping a bug into their soup or making bets he knew he would lose. He had a quality about him that made people laugh at the idea that he was as scholarly as his brother – it was too ludicrous, too out of character, too unbelievable.

But Dirk read. At first, begrudgingly. Ivan forced them on him, and he read the titles tossed at him to keep his brother at bay between pranks. And then it was eagerly, yanking novels off the top of the shelf and reading them when nobody was looking because, after all, he had a reputation to keep up as a person who did _not _read no matter who was around or who wasn't around. But he read, and he read, and he read. And the books he read were about freedom: cutting ties, moving on, being free to act how you wanted.

Of course, that was easier said than done. Leaving Ivan and setting off for a foreign town seemed as bizarre as his hobby would seem to his fellow townspeople. But things change even in sleepy towns like the one he grew up in, and the day Ivan stood before him with Freya's hand in his and announced that they were getting married, Dirk knew he found his out. Not to mention there wasn't room for him in a house with newlyweds.

So despite Ivan's protests, he packed his favorite books (none that actually belonged to him, much to Ivan's chagrin) and the bare essentials like they always did in books, and he set off. He swore not to get tied down anywhere. He would go wherever he felt like going. He would be there one day, gone the next. And it worked fairly well for the first three towns he traveled to. He picked up temporary jobs, he met new people, he lived a life completely different from his life in Zephyr Town. It wasn't so much that he changed, but that the expectations of the people around him did, and he could act the way he had been longing to act for a long time. He was a nomad setting out, following summer across the globe, living the life he had yearned for and had seen only in books.

And then he moved to Konohana, and he wasn't so sure anymore.

And it was all _her _fault, really. He had lived in two big cities and one average village, but Konohana was miniscule and Bluebell the same, if not smaller. So, getting to know a few people was inevitable. And getting to know _one _person in particular…that was a choice he didn't _really_ have a choice in. She smiled, and he wanted to know her.

They met the day he moved in, when he was standing outside staring at the pathetic patch of a field beside his house and wondering what in the world to do with it. Summer had just started, but what vegetables grew in the summer? "If only I had listened to Anita," he mumbled. "Maybe then I'd know what to do with this."

"Is Anita your girlfriend?"

"Huh?"

Lillian peered curiously from around his house, holding a bough of chamomile she had collected. "I'm making up a life story for you. You have a girlfriend back home named Anita who has a green thumb, but you didn't have enough money to please her dad so you set out to raise some and become a respectable man worthy of her hand."

"I would say I'm worthy of her hand as I stand, not that I want it."

"So you're running away from a marriage you didn't want?"

"No-"

"Just kidding." She chuckled at the surprise on his face, and then crouched down at his plot. "Well, I happen to have purchased some extra sunflower seeds earlier, and I have all my tools on me. Want me to help you set up the field just once?"

Dirk hesitated, watching her for a moment with both confusion and wonder, and finally smiled. "Sure. You a farmer over here?"

"I live across the mountain in Bluebell," she explained as she retrieved her hoe, rose it, and smacked it down on the dirt. The sound of metal scraping against such low quality dirt was grating. She seemed used to it, and didn't flinch like he did. "I'm pretty new here myself, like you obviously are. I barely moved here at the beginning of last spring."

"What's your story then?"

"Guess!"

He smiled and examined her for a minute, and she smiled back at him before continuing to till the rest of the plot. He thought of all the books he had read and did his best to caricature her. "You're a girl, coming of age, tired of the city life, who set out for a more relaxing lifestyle in a small town."

"Bingo."

"Seriously?"

"I'm a pretty simple person," she admitted as she crouched down and started poking holes for the seeds to slip into. "I don't have some complex reason for coming out here. I got tired of living in a place where nobody knew my name and wanted to live in a place where everybody did. So far, so good."

Dirk crouched beside her and mimicked her motions in the next spot over. "I used to live in a place like this. Small village where everybody knew each other. I got kind of tired of it, I guess. I've been moving around a lot ever since. I've never stayed anywhere longer than a season."

"Yeah? Well, I've got enough seeds for you to replant one more time, and so I guess the day you harvest your second batch of sunflowers one season will be up, you'll be out of here."

"Probably."

Lillian smiled and finished the work in just a few moments before tossing the remaining seed packets to him. "I hope you have a nice stay here, then. And I hope you eventually find what you're looking for."

"What I'm looking for?"

"Yeah. I've got a theory that people who love to travel and visit new places are always looking for the one place that makes them never want to leave again. So, I hope you find a place that has something in it that makes you decide you want to give up moving around. I mean, if you like traveling so much, it's basically my way of saying that I hope you find something one day that you like even more than traveling."

Dirk studied her for a moment, and this time he _really _looked at her. He looked into those violet eyes and he saw the calluses on her hands and he noticed the band aids poking out beneath her skirt and the hollow where her necklace fell. The charm was maroon, like his outfit, and that made him smile. "Thank you," he finally said. "For the flowers, too."

"No problem. I've got to get back to work, but I hope we can get to know each other while you're staying here."

She held out her hand, coated in dirt, and he didn't hesitate to take it and give it a shake. "Same here," he said.

But when she began to walk away, he thought more about those words. There was a mountain separating Bluebell and Konohana, and they would both be working during the day when they crossed over. How was he supposed to guarantee that they would get to know each other? There was a good chance they would only see each other in passing, on their way to more important tasks. So as she was about to turn the corner, he cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"You sure you're up for setting your kitchen up so soon?" She was grinning, part of her skirt bunched up in one hand. Later on he would learn that was a nervous gesture of hers.

"I'm always up for a challenge," he replied.

Lillian laughed and nodded. "I'll be back over here at seven then."

They waved at each other until she was truly out of sight, and then Dirk grinned and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Finding something I love more than what I'm already doing?" he murmured to himself, glancing at the tilled soil. He still had to water it. It seemed pretty menial. How could she stand to dirty her hands like that every day? Had she found something she loved in such a repetitive task?

He filled a pitcher of water and set to tending the field. If she loved it, then why couldn't he? Maybe that was his role in the story. Well, for this chapter.

He laughed at just the thought and put it out of his mind. He liked her, that was for sure. She was interesting, and clever, and she caught his eye in multiple ways. But to settle for her? To find something he loved in little Konohana? He wanted to travel the world like the characters in his books, not settle down in a small town like his brother.

This, he told himself, was just for fun.

* * *

"I've heard about the bazaar! I didn't know _that _was your hometown. Impressive! Did _you_ sell anything?"

Dirk snorted, shaking his head. "No, I was pretty useless when bazaar time came around. Honestly, I was pretty useless all year round in Zephyr Town. I was _that _kid, always causing trouble."

"Really?" Lillian leaned towards him and chuckled, taking another drink of the juice he had prepared for her. "You seem pretty mature now."

"I suppose."

"Is it because you've been traveling all on your own?"

"Hmm…" Dirk drifted off, glancing at her and then around his room. He made the decision to tell her without really thinking it through. "I guess I've been feeling more mature for a while now, but in Zephyr Town everyone expected me to be the troublemaker, and I didn't want to disappoint. It's hard to make a change when everyone is expecting you to revert to how you used to be. So, moving around, I get to act however I want without anyone expecting me to act a particular way."

Lillian's eyes widened for a moment, and he felt that she might laugh at this, but instead she nodded. "I understand. I always kept to myself in the city, but I think that's just because that's what I knew everybody wanted and expected. They didn't want to talk – they just wanted to go on with their business. But when I came here, I finally got the chance to talk to everyone and make friends with everyone since there weren't the same…expectations, as you said."

"Then I guess we're one in the same," Dirk murmured, smiling at her and lifting his own glass up to take a drink.

Lillian held her glass out with a grin. "I guess so."

He clanked his against hers and hoped that she wouldn't go home for a while.

* * *

Lillian stopped by for dinner for the ninth time when the first batch of sunflowers had been harvested. Dirk covered her eyes when she walked into the door so she could be especially surprised when she looked at the vase on the center of their dinner table, filled with golden flowers.

"They look great!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together with a grin. "I'll make dinner tonight in celebration of your first harvest. **And** because I've never made dinner for you before."

"Have at it," Dirk replied, hopping up onto the counter and gesturing for her to look into his refrigerator. He smiled at her, feeling quite pleased with himself when she stopped to smell the sunflowers before rummaging through the fridge.

It was quiet at first as she pulled out some vegetables, but then her eyes glanced up to the top of the cupboard, where several books had been stashed away. "You like reading?" she asked.

"Ah…yeah. I do." Dirk almost held his breath, thinking of the people he loved back home, and how they would laugh to see him now - regularly dining with a girl, holding mature conversations, discussing literature.

But Lillian didn't even bat an eye at this reply. "I've never been a big reader before, but I'd like to be. It seems fun. Getting to live all of those lives…well, it would make people who don't get to travel feel like they actually did."

"I think reading is what _made _me want to travel," Dirk admitted, pointing to the drawer that held the knives.

Lillian smiled at him and began to chop a cucumber, humming for a moment as she did. "That makes sense. You're a smart guy, Dirk. You always have something clever to say, and you have all of these interesting hobbies…I must seem like a pretty boring farm girl to you, huh?"

Her voice was teasing, but her eyes were a little sad. Dirk reached out his hand and then hesitated, bringing it back to his side, before reaching out anyways. He touched her hair and smoothed it down. "No. I don't think you're boring at all. Actually, I think you're pretty interesting."

She looked up at him, cheeks tinged with crimson, one hand bunching up a bit of her skirt, and then smiled once more. "Back at you. I think you might be the most interesting person I've ever met."

"Then I'll do my best to keep your interest." Dirk returned his hand to his side _and_ returned her smile, chuckling when she turned her face away to hide her blush.

It was at that moment that he realized he could stay in the same spot for a long, long time.

* * *

"What's this map all about, man?"

"It's all the places I want to travel to. The ones with blue tacks are the places I've lived in, the ones with yellow tacks are the places I'd still like to see." Dirk pointed out several places to Kana, who looked rather impressed.

"You've been all over the place. Where do you want to go next?"

Dirk studied his map for a long time, still holding the bag of pet food Kana had brought over for the stray Dirk was raising, since Raul's shop was closed and he was all out. He was planning to give Felix, as he had named the pup when it struck a laughable pose akin to his past mayor's, to Lillian once he had trained it, since she was looking for a herd dog. After a few moments of examining the map he dropped the bag to the floor and pointed at a yellow tack near the top of the paper. "I guess this place would be nice. Not too hot, not too cold. Big city. I've heard a lot of good things about the place."

Kana grinned, nodding, but his words were cut short with a yelp. The stray was pawing at Lillian's skirt as she stood in the doorway, a smile forced upon her usually naturally gleeful features.

"Sorry to interrupt. I was just coming to see, uh, you, Kana. I wanted a treat for my horse."

"Oh yeah?" Kana smiled at her and waved once at Dirk, setting his arm around her shoulder as he began to lead her across the way to his home. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I was just making a delivery. How's Star doing? She keeping up well?"

"Yeah, perfect. See you, Dirk."

He waved at Lillian, but she had already turned away, and the last he saw of her before the door closed was that she was being held by _Kana_. He swallowed hard, wanting to blame her for the frustration he suddenly felt, but couldn't help feeling like _he _was the one whohad done something wrong.

* * *

It was getting dark when Dirk left his home to see if she was on her way yet, and it was Kana who met him at the door. He was forced to suppress his annoyance at just _seeing_ the boy now despite generally enjoying his company. "What's up?" he asked, stretching his leg out to prevent Felix from escaping before he closed the door.

"Lillian asked me to let you know that she couldn't come over tonight because she was busy with stuff over in Bluebell. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I was busy mucking out the stalls." Kana offered a sheepish grin for his lateness – one that Dirk didn't return.

"What's she busy with?"

"Dunno. She just said she had stuff to do."

"Stuff to do," Dirk repeated, his voice firm. "Hm. Well, thanks."

"Uh, no problem man. See ya."

Kana left as quickly as he had come, not looking eager to spend another second with Dirk. And as for the Dirk himself, he ate the meal he had prepared alone, watching the sunflowers in the vase begin to wilt.

* * *

Somehow Lillian continued to evade him. He'd heard that she was here or there and would try to track her down, but she would always be gone by the time he arrived. When he went to Bluebell he asked all around, but it was the same situation. She left no traceable trail, and either she wasn't home or didn't open the door when he went house calling. One time he had caught her on her way through the forest, but she had made a hasty excuse and took off jogging towards Konohana while he was on the clock. The puppy he had been training knew how to scratch at the door when it wanted out, herded Kana's horses with ease, and sat on command. Without Lillian to take him home, though, he was useless. Everything seemed to be useless.

The second harvest of sunflowers was almost fully grown, and Dirk still hadn't started putting his things into boxes. Every time he looked at the house he had put together, the idea of moving out seemed exhausting. He would much rather sit and read a book on the couch he had grown to love and stare out the window at the view he so enjoyed and hope for the girl he cared for to come by. Mostly the last. Traveling again seemed almost dull knowing that he would leave her behind.

But Lillian didn't show up no matter how long he waited for her. So this time, when the sunflowers were finished growing, Dirk harvested them, asked for the day off of work, and set out to find her.

It wasn't easy to do so, either. Lillian had spent the past two weeks learning how to never run into him, and Dirk figured that with her skill, she could easily go professional at such a task. He had always "just missed her" until finally he realized that she had to go home _eventually_.

So when Lillian walked up to her house looking positively despondent after the sun had already set, she found Dirk sitting at her doorstep.

"What…are you…" she merely stood there, dumbfounded, and stared at him as he looked up at her, yawning.

"I came to see you, since you haven't been coming by."

"Shouldn't you be packing, or something of the sort?" she asked, putting a smile on her face. It was another forced grin. "I don't want to bother you. You should get back to work."

Dirk stood up and pulled the sunflowers from his bag, wrapped up in a bouquet, and passed them to her. Lillian's breath left her with a sharp gasp as the flowers were presented to her, and she put them close to her face once they had been accepted and took a deep breath. "Lovely," she murmured. "So they're harvested…you really are heading out now, aren't you?"

"I want to know why you haven't been coming to see me." Dirk faced her as solidly as he could, and when she tried to look in the other direction he moved in front of her again, a small smile on his lips. "Please. We'd been getting along good for a couple of weeks, after all."

Lillian hesitated and then laughed a little, nodding. "We did. I thought you were a lot of fun to spend time with. But…when I remembered that you were only staying here temporarily, I thought it would be best if I put some distance between us. I didn't want to be sad when you moved on. I like you, Dirk, but it would be pretty depressing to hang around you and watch you pack up and get ready to move again. You're the first person in these towns that I've really, really hit it off with. I didn't want to see you leave."

Dirk's eyes widened, and then his surprised expression softened into a smile. He put his hand on her cheek and said, "I'm not leaving, Lillian."

"What?" she gaped, her grip on the flowers tightening. "But you said…you said that you never stay in the same place for longer than a season!"

"I did say that," Dirk admitted, his voice a little sheepish. "But…you told me that you hoped one day I found something I liked more than traveling. I'm not, uh, confessing my love here or anything, but…you're the first person I've been able to open up to and really get to know as my true self. I think _maybe_ one day you could be the thing I like more than traveling. So, I'm going to stick around until I know for sure."

Lillian's cheek burned beneath his hand, and she smiled as she set her hand over his. "Do you want to come in for dinner?" she asked.

Dirk grinned and nodded. That was exactly what he had wanted to hear. "Yeah. I'd love that."

* * *

In all of the stories that inspired Dirk to travel, there was always a very particular end. He had always chalked it up to the author striving to make their story interesting to all demographics, but now he thought differently. The adventurer didn't settle down with the one they loved to please the readers. They settled down because they found something they loved more than traveling. It only took Dirk three more seasons to decide that he never wanted to travel away from the sleepy villages so like his hometown again.

"Felix…Felix! Felix _no_! No- no!"

Lillian toppled forward and then felt a jerk on her elbow – Dirk yanked her back to her feet and chuckled, pulling her into a hug. "He still doesn't get along with kitty, does he?"

"I'm not going to get along with you anymore either if you don't start picking up your books!" Lillian snapped, waving a finger in his face. She was only able to maintain the charade for a moment more, however, and then they laughed together as their new kitten teased the once upon a time stray turned herder from her spot on the counter.

Dirk picked up his book and winked. "I'd better be on my best behavior and pick up after myself as much as possible then, huh? I don't want to chase you out of reach."

"Aren't you clever?" Lillian replied, chuckling as she took the book from him. "Hmm…there's a name written on the bottom…is this Ivan's book?"

Dirk let loose an awkward laugh and snatched it back, shrugging. "Well, he won't miss it."

"Next time he and Freya come to visit, I'm going to return all of his stuff!"

"And I'll make sure to empty his suitcase of new stuff while you do it."

Lillian rolled her eyes, but was still smiling. "You're ridiculous," she said, looking away with a laugh. "Oh, did you see the vase?"

He looked over and chuckled when he saw the fresh bouquet of sunflowers tucked into the blue pottery. They suited the farmhouse perfectly from their spot beside the double bed. "The first harvest of summer then, huh? Two years have passed since I tried my hand at them for the first time. I think I'm becoming a pro at farming."

"Why don't you take over from now on then?"

"Pass."

Lillian laughed and moved her hand to playfully strike him, but he caught it and touched his lips to the ring on her left hand. "Love you," he murmured, smiling at her.

She smiled back at him, lacing her fingers in his. "I love you too. But that doesn't get you off the hook! We're giving Ivan back his stuff."

Dirk grinned and picked up a book from the kitchen table. "Well, I suppose I've got a story better than any he could offer, anyways."

Lillian smiled back at him and squeezed his hand. "_We _do."

"Yeah. We."


End file.
